Fugazi - 4 - In On The Kill Taker - Smallpox Champion

[jeligula]

This song is very typical of Fugazi.  Three quarters of any single song is so avante garde as to be almost unlistenable and then the last 1/4 approaches, and sometimes squarely nails, immortal rock n roll glory. "Rend It" and "You'd Make a Good Cop" off the same album illustrate this quite nicely.

[BlackEcology]

@jeligula "almost unlistenable" - false. shit on music "purity" of how "rock n roll" is suppose to "act". fuck rock n roll as a concept in general and its huge pile of shit tie to capital by following the same colonial model this very song talks about.

[sucktastic]

@jeligula

If by unlistenable you mean awesome, then I agree.

[spiderjerusalem100]

Fucking raging song and album.

Most of my friends haven't even heard of Fugazi so they've always felt like "my" band, so awesome.

[jampline]

you know more than anything, this song (along with many other FUGAZI songs) sparked political conversation. That is something that does not exist with today's music.

[WOPRwithCheese]

What's the deal with the U2 riff from "better than the real thing" from 2:55 on.. ? Always wondered, yes I bought this on tape when it came out.

[freakmonk123]

@WOPRwithCheese best part

[TheHelixSpirit]

My friend had a thought about what we listened to in the 90's it always sounded better while playing video games. He would just stop the game and he would be like this is really good music! But if we played music for no reason it would never happen.

[AaronMcGillicuddy]

I love the revisionist history here. The smallpox blankets were to help the Indians gain immunity to the virus.

[imshippyupup]

@AaronMcGillicuddy You wish.

[geoffwoade]

@AaronMcGillicuddy exactly! and the bombing of hiroshima and nagasaki was to let the japanese practice in case of a nuclear attack!

[downwiththemaster]

@AaronMcGillicuddy trololololololol

[screechingcoxy]

this song is about a man called pox who wasn't every tall and was a boxer i know this because my nan used to feed joe lally's cat when he was on tour. FACT

[atfreema]

The USA didn't give the Indians smallpox blankets.

If anyone did it was the British Empire. A British nobleman came up with the idea.

But whatever, facts don't matter, blame the USA!

[imshippyupup]

@atfreema True, but the chain between our history and Britain is strong. Our "founding fathers" were British.

[swindle1989]

Happy Thanksgiving, guys

[italiaholic]

Best song on the album.

[SimplyShadow]

the best song ever in this ep, and their best album.

[informationplz]

Fugazi has many great recordings...This is the best album of IMHO...This band was integral to the hardcore music culture of the mid 80's to 1997...If it were not for Fugazi, maybe no Rage Against The Machine?? No Rise Against?? Maybe not even no Gallows? Who knows...

FUGAZI KICK MY ASS EVERY TIME I HEAR THEM...Never let them wipe out!!

[sassicaiamolotov]

This is their best album, even than "Repeater" which is a great album, but songs like this makes "In on the killtaker" a masterpiece of the 90's not only of indie rock but of ROCK in the widest sense.

[BraincageAZ]

@sassicaiamolotov agreed

[alfaripopo]

''history rears up to spit in your face''

FUCK YEAH!!!!

I was 8 when this was released, discovered it at around 20, anyways....damn I like Fugazi

[1stTimothy6KJV]

look at that big phallus that has screwed the world

[URNmyRVM]

fabulous album. My favorite of all of them.

[8thetramp]

Fucking great band-great song- too bad pop stars will never have the BALLS to say, well-anything.

[8thetramp]

Fucking great song. in your face goverment!

[maffphew]

this is about the forced migration of the cherokee indians by the U.S. government in the 19th century when they were deliberatley infected with small pox in blankets as a method of population control. a heinous act by a racist government.

[Alphabex8]

damn, well said.

[sanjurodog]

@maffphew It was a more common evil practice than you'd even think. Check this out about Amherst, MA from wik. Jefferey Amherst..great guy: "Amherst is also infamous for considering, in a letter to a peer, the use of smallpox-covered blankets in warfare against the Native Americans. It is for this reason that there have been occasional ad hoc movements to rename the town. Among the new names suggested for the town has been "Emily" after Emily Dickinson"

How 'bout that shit? Pretty sick, huh?

[philemonpersing]

@maffphew I know its fun to believe all that smallpox genocide stuff, but...

The government used their guns for the genocide-- it was much faster that way. If you do just a little research like I did, (as I had believed it for a long time) the whole thing is a complete myth that started around the time this album was released. Not that I mind slinging mud at the gov't at all. I'm sure no one wants to be ignorant, however.

[maffphew]

@philemonpersing there is nothing 'fun' about 'believing' in this, this actually happened. In 1838 the Cherokee were given used blankets from a hospital in Red Clay Tennessee that were infested with Small Pox, they were then forced to walk away from towns at a safe distance so the inhabitants would not contract the disease. The idea that Fugazi created this 'myth' is absurd. I wonder where your 'research' is from.

[toadboyted]

@maffphew most likely philemonpersing got his info from a site like Wikipedia and some asshole said it but he probably did get what he thought was information but it did happen it was the trail of tears.

[KristopheTheSaint]

@maffphew Eh, people gotta die. Otherwise we'll overpopulate this rock we live on in no time. Was it right? Fuck no. But shit has to happen. Would i like to die? No, but i don't expect people to cry if I die as a part of some fuckin tragedy.

[TheSpoonRooster]

@KristopheTheSaint "It was wrong, but it has to happen" How does that not make it "right", if it has to happen? Your comment makes no sense.

[lolkewlJ]

@maffphew If history is written by the victors then our textbooks should be blank....

[stoleninfo]

cha cha cha cha champion

[whynotynot1]

Used to tear up my half-pipe in my parent's back yard to this whole album. Definatley their best.

[xs4eyes13]

cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-champi­on.

[temarzipan]

no comments? really? best fugazi album, not easily, but easily. Its a hard task, but easily.

[AdsuMudi]

I agree, it's a tough call but this wins it.